Written Answers Thursday 18 December 2008

Scottish Executive

2014 Commonwealth Games

Michael Matheson (Falkirk West) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in developing a legacy plan setting out what Scotland and the people of Scotland should expect as a legacy from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.

Nicola Sturgeon: I am pleased to say that we have today published our interim Games Legacy Plan. This is the forerunner to what will be the more detailed full Games Legacy Plan to be launched in summer 2009.

  It is a national plan and is focussed with realistic ambitions. The interim plan was developed by a comprehensive group structure - comprising internal and external representatives – taking account of feedback from the games legacy consultation process (our consultation paper, 16 public meetings across Scotland and Young Scot’s parallel consultation).

  It has health as the unifying theme; has five key underpinning principles, and outlines the seven key legacy programmes we aim to take forward to help deliver a legacy across Scotland from the Glasgow 2014 and London 2012 Games (and other major events). These programmes cover sport; health; education and learning; culture; volunteering; the greener agenda, and business, tourism and skills/employment.

  We believe that by using the excitement of the games, we can get more out of existing resources to deliver a legacy. In shaping our legacy programme ideas, we have therefore aimed to be imaginative in how we can use the games to lend impetus to existing or planned programmes. As we flesh out the legacy programmes over the coming months, we will explore other possible funding routes to turn what would be a good legacy into a great legacy. We have already bid for the return of £150 million lottery funds diverted from Scotland to help fund the London 2012 Games and will explore with the private sector and other potential funders possible ways in which they can support the development of community-based legacy.

  As described within one of the key underpinning principles, "Enhancing Partnerships", we recognise that collaboration of all kinds is essential to achieving our ambitious legacy. Success depends on everyone being committed to the Plan and playing their part in making it work at a national and local level. We have aimed to ensure our group structure includes all the relevant organisations and representative groups, particularly COSLA and other local authority representatives. That same group structure will help develop the detail of the full Games Legacy Plan and, as importantly, deliver it.

  A copy of the interim plan, the reports from the consultation, and the membership and remit of our group structure are on our website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/Sport/MajorEvents/Glasgow-2014/Commonwealth-games.

Access for People with Disabilities

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the position is of each bus operator in relation to compliance with statutory provisions for wheelchair users.

Stewart Stevenson: Legislation in relation to wheelchair accessibility on buses is reserved to Westminster. The Scottish Government is committed to encouraging bus operators to meet all relevant regulations within the timetables set although ultimately this is a matter for individual bus operators. The information requested on compliance with statutory provisions for wheelchair users is not held centrally.

Bees

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to reinstate restrictions on the movement of honeybees in and into Scotland.

Richard Lochhead: There are currently no plans to reinstate movement controls for honeybees. The rules governing the import of honeybees are set out in community legislation with which the Scottish Government is legally obliged to comply.

  The Scottish Government is currently analysing comments received on its draft Honey Bee Health Strategy and will consider any views expressed on movements. The strategy recognises the need for good communication and effective surveillance and monitoring of bee health in order to minimise the risk of importing and spreading bee diseases or bee pests.

Bees

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to reinstate notifiable disease status to varroa mite infestation in bee populations.

Richard Lochhead: The varroa mite is now considered to be widespread in Scotland and so no useful purpose would be served by reinstating notifiable status to this bee pest.

  The Scottish Government does however recognise the importance of effective management of this pest in the hive and for that reason funds the full time post of a bee specialist at the Scottish Agriculture College who provides free of charge training, education and advice to Scottish beekeepers.

Birds

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether reported cases of bird poisoning or persecution are proportionately greater in the national forest estate or in privately-owned or managed forests.

Michael Russell: Bird poisoning cases are recorded by the Division of the Scottish Government which deals with Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA). The most recent report shows that in 2007 there were 24 incidents involving birds of prey being killed by deliberate misuse of pesticides and two incidents of red kites being poisoned by anticoagulant rodenticide. The report does not attribute cases to forests or other land types.

  In the past 20 years three birds which died from poisoning have been reported on the national forest estate, but there is no indication that they were poisoned on the estate. We have no records of persecution on the national forest estate.

Broadcasting

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, in the absence of Creative Scotland, who is playing a leadership role in bringing together broadcasters, production companies, economic development bodies, skills agencies and the further and higher education sectors to work collaboratively in delivering what is required to ensure a thriving creative-content sector, in line with the recommendation of the Scottish Broadcasting Commission.

Linda Fabiani: There are several agencies involved in supporting the broadcasting industry in Scotland, including Scottish Screen and the Enterprise bodies. The Scottish Government is establishing Creative Scotland as a publicly owned limited company by the turn of the year to progress the transition from Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council. That will include taking forward the recommendation for Creative Scotland in the Scottish Broadcasting Commission’s report.

Climate Change

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to lease 25% of the publicly-owned forest estate to private foreign timberland investment companies and, if so, whether it has consulted the 21,046 respondents to the Scottish Climate Change Bill consultation or invited them to comment on such plans.

Michael Russell: Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on Climate Change and the National Forest Estate . The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland .

  The consultation exercise and options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland’s deliberations on the detail of lease arrangements, should the leasing option be taken forward. The consultation document is on the website at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM and is open to anyone to submit comments.

Community Service Orders

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address the number of people breaching community service orders.

Kenny MacAskill: We are taking further steps to reduce breach by more pro-active sentence management. The proposals we announced yesterday in response to the Prisons Commission set out our plans for regular sentence review. Our aim is to speed up and simplify how breaches are handled.

  We can never eliminate breach but we must send strong signals to offenders that it will not be tolerated.

Enterprise

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the importance of the insurance sector to the Scottish economy.

John Swinney: In its annual reporting process, the Financial Services Advisory Board (FISAB) publishes details of the financial services industry in Scotland, including both the life and pensions and general insurance sectors.

  In its 2008 Annual Report, FiSAB reported that Scotland’s financial services industry as a whole contributes around £7 billion to the Scottish Gross Domestic Product and 86,000 jobs in total. Employment in the Life and Pensions sector in 2006 accounted for 16% of financial services employment in Scotland with general insurance employing 7%.

Environment

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who, other than civil servants, is involved in considering applications to the Climate Challenge Fund and what the locus or role is of each person involved.

Michael Russell: The Climate Challenge Fund is administered on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB), which provides advice and support and acts as a single point of contact for community groups.

  KSB supports community groups in developing applications for funding and directs groups to the relevant members of the Climate Challenge Fund Supporting Alliance for more specific advice. KSB also provides initial assessments of applications and presents these for consideration by the independent Climate Challenge Fund Grants Panel, which recommends to ministers which projects should be supported.

  Members of the grants panel are chosen for their knowledge and expertise in community action and carbon reduction. The panel currently comprises:

  Simon Pepper (Chair) - Environmental consultant;

  Lloyd Austin - The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB);

  Pauline Gallacher - Board member, Architecture and Design Scotland;

  Karen Grant - Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations;

  Councillor Alison Hay - Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA);

  Roger Kelly - Convener of the Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland;

  Osbert Lancaster – Footprint Consulting Limited;

  Mike Robinson - Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, and

  David Spaven - Deltix Transport Consulting.

First Minister

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what overseas official visits the First Minister plans to make in the next six months.

Linda Fabiani: A number of international visits are being considered at the moment. Ministerial diaries are subject to parliamentary and other pressures and therefore often subject to change. Details of each visit will be announced in due course.

First Minister

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times since he took office the First Minister has met Sandi Thom.

John Swinney: The First Minister has met Sandi Thom on four occasions while undertaking government business.

Football

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had discussions with the football authorities and individual clubs about the way in which Remembrance Day is marked, in the light of any implications for public order.

Stewart Maxwell: There have been no discussions between the Scottish Government and either the Scottish football authorities or individual clubs over the way in which Remembrance Day is marked. The Scottish Government has no powers to impose arrangements in respect of Remembrance Day and matters of public order are for the police locally.

Forestry

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many redundancies it would expect as a result of the proposals for Forestry Commission land outlined in its consultation on forestry provisions in the Scottish Climate Change Bill.

Michael Russell: There will be no compulsory redundancies from Forestry Commission Scotland arising from the consultation exercise and wider options review.

Forestry

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what gross value added it estimates to be associated with timber in the public forest estate.

Michael Russell: The Scottish timber industry alone provides 13,200 full-time jobs and is worth £460 million by the latest estimate. The National Forest Estate (NFE) currently produces 44% of the timber in Scotland, so a reasonable estimate would be that the NFE contributes around £200 million GVA (gross value added) per year.

  Also, nearly 20,000 jobs are attributed to tourism and recreation spending, which is estimated at £209 million. The bulk of recreation and tourism related spend from forests is on the NFE, so if a figure of 75% of this spending is used, the NFE contributes around £150 million GVA. Thus the total GVA generated by the NFE using the above assumptions is £350 million per year.

Forestry

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the biodiversity duty under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 would apply to land in the public forest estate that was leased to private interests.

Michael Russell: Yes.

Forestry

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether land in the public forest estate that had been leased to private interests would be eligible for grant payments under the Scotland Rural Development Programme.

Michael Russell: Yes, this land would be eligible for grant payments.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers Forestry Commission Scotland has to sell or otherwise dispose of land that it owns.

Michael Russell: Through the Scottish ministers, Forestry Commissioners have powers under the Forestry Act to dispose of lands they manage on behalf of the ministers.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Forestry Commission Scotland has powers to reinvest the proceeds of sales of land in new land purchases.

Michael Russell: Forestry Commission Scotland is already reinvesting the proceeds of sales of land in new land purchases, under its repositioning programme.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Forestry Commission Scotland has powers to lease land from others.

Michael Russell: Scottish ministers may lease from others land which in their opinion is suitable for afforestation or purposes connected with forestry, and place it at the disposal of Forestry Commissioners, under the Forestry Act 1967.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Forestry Commission Scotland has powers to lease land in its ownership to others.

Michael Russell: Yes. Forestry Commission Scotland leases land for a wide range of activities but not for woodland management purposes, as it currently has no powers to delegate its responsibilities.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the land owned by Forestry Commission Scotland is held and owned on behalf of Scottish ministers.

Michael Russell: Forestry Commission Scotland does not own land – the national forest estate is vested in the name of Scottish ministers, and the commission manages it on their behalf.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish ministers have powers to own land.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish ministers have the powers to lease any land that they own.

Michael Russell: Yes, under the Forestry Act.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements Forestry Commission Scotland has entered into with community organisations to manage forest land.

Michael Russell: Forestry Commission Scotland has entered into a number of agreements with community groups to encourage greater engagement with their local woods. These range from concordats to management agreements and include activities such as, footpath construction and maintenance and educational events.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive under what powers Forestry Commission Scotland has entered into arrangements with community groups on leasing or otherwise arranging the management of part of the forest estate.

Michael Russell: Forestry Commission Scotland does not currently have the power to delegate its land management function but it has entered into a number of agreements with community groups to encourage greater engagement with their local woods. These range from concordats to management agreements and include activities such as footpath maintenance and educational events.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish ministers have powers to transfer assets owned by the Forestry Commission Scotland to others.

Michael Russell: Under the Forestry Act 1967 (as amended), Scottish ministers may dispose for any purpose of land acquired by them under that Act. Such transactions are also subject to the rules of financial propriety set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Forestry Commission Scotland has powers to offer grant assistance to voluntary organisations.

Michael Russell: Yes. For example, grants are paid to Community Woodland Association.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the use of funds raised by Forestry Commission Scotland from the sale or lease of land is regulated.

Michael Russell: The use of funds raised by Forestry Commission Scotland from the sale of land is determined by Scottish ministers as part of the Spending Review. If powers under the Climate Change Bill were obtained and used to lease land, then the use of funds would need to relate to climate change.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the use of funds raised by Forestry Commission Scotland from the sale or lease of land has to be agreed by Scottish ministers.

Michael Russell: The funding of Forestry Commission Scotland is approved annually by the Scottish Parliament for the annual Budget Bill. The Bill takes into account any income raised from sale or lease of land and provides the statutory authority for spending of any sums raised.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its policy is that the proceeds of the sale of land or its leasing by Forestry Commission Scotland form part of the forward financial planning of the Scottish Government during each spending review period and impacts on the net contribution of funds from it to Forestry Commission Scotland for defined periods of time.

Michael Russell: Yes. Forward financial plans include any proceeds from sale or lease of land. The funding of Forestry Commission Scotland is then approved annually by the Parliament.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, within its powers, it can bind future Scottish Governments as to the treatment and use of funds raised through the sale or lease of land owned by Forestry Commission Scotland.

Michael Russell: It is for the Scottish Parliament to determine the use of funds available to the Scottish Executive, whether from sale or lease of Forestry Commission Scotland land or any other source.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish ministers are in any way constrained by regulation as to how they apply funds raised by the sale or lease of assets owned by Forestry Commission Scotland.

Michael Russell: There are no specific regulations about use of funds raised by Forestry Commission by sale or lease of assets but the funding of Forestry Commission Scotland is approved annually by the Scottish Parliament and takes into account any income raised from such sales or leases.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how receipts from the sale or lease of land owned by Forestry Commission Scotland are treated in public accounting terms.

Michael Russell: Receipts from sales or leases of land owned by Scottish ministers and administered by Forestry Commission Scotland are recorded in the Annual Report and Accounts of Forestry Commission Scotland. Income from outright sales are classified as capital DEL income and income from leases are normally classified as DEL revenue income.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether income from the lease of land owned by Forestry Commission Scotland is required to be treated as capital.

Michael Russell: Income from the lease of land owned by Scottish ministers and administered by Forestry Commission Scotland are normally treated as DEL revenue income.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what spending authority or powers will be generated by it through the lease of Forestry Commission Scotland land and whether any such spending authority or powers would be negated by any lease period below a defined minimum period.

Michael Russell: The lease of Forestry Commission Scotland land, regardless of lease period, generates no new spending authority or powers.

  If, however, powers under the Climate Change Bill were obtained and used to lease land, then the use of funds would need to relate to climate change. The period of any lease might affect the amount of money available, but it would not affect the way in which the money could be used.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the lease of land owned by Forestry Commission Scotland can form an annual revenue stream for it for each year of the lease period, payable in each said year.

Michael Russell: Forestry Commission Scotland leases land for which it receives an annual payment.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the lease of land owned by Forestry Commission Scotland can take the form a single payment at the commencement of the lease to cover the entire lease period.

Michael Russell: Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on Climate Change and the National Forest Estate http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM . The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.

  The consultation exercise and options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland’s deliberations on this issue, if we decide to take forward the leasing option.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is obliged to apply receipts from the sale or lease of land owned by Forestry Commission Scotland to forestry expenditure.

Michael Russell: It is for the Scottish Parliament to decide whether funding for specific purposes should be ring-fenced over prolonged period of years.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive by how much it plans to increase expenditure on climate change, as envisaged in the consultation on the future of the national forest estate.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive over how many years it plans to spend the potential assets derived from the lease of Forestry Commission land as envisaged in the consultation on the future of the national forest estate.

Michael Russell: This will be determined after the consultation exercise and options review.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the entering of joint ventures envisaged in the document Climate Change and the National Forest Estate - Consultation on forestry provisions in the Scottish Climate Change Bill could include leasing arrangements with third parties.

Michael Russell: It is possible that a joint venture arrangement could also include leasing arrangements with third parties.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what rights currently held by Forestry Commission Scotland it envisages will transfer to any lease holders under the plans postulated in the document Climate Change and the National Forest Estate - Consultation on forestry provisions in the Scottish Climate Change Bill .

Michael Russell: The responses to the consultation exercise and the options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland’s deliberations on this issue.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, under the powers included in the document Climate Change and the National Forest Estate - Consultation on forestry provisions in the Scottish Climate Change Bill , it is envisaged that Scottish ministers of the current or any future administration would be constrained over the proportion of the national forest estate they proposed to lease or the proposed lease period.

Michael Russell: The responses to the consultation exercise, including any views on the proportion of the estate that might be leased and on the proposed lease period, will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland’s deliberations on this issue.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it proposes to use the UK Woodland Assurance Standard or the UK Forestry Standard in any leasing arrangements for the national forest estate.

Michael Russell: Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on Climate Change and the National Forest Estate http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM . The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.

  The consultation paper suggests the need to observe the UK Forestry Standard as an example of a means of safeguarding public benefits. The UK Woodland Assurance Standard is also a possibility.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish ministers balance commercial interests with silvicultural, recreational and environmental interests in determining its policies on Forestry Commission Scotland.

Michael Russell: Yes. This can be seen clearly in the Scottish Forestry Strategy.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that private firms investing in forestry in Scotland are bound to put the interests of their shareholders first.

Michael Russell: This is a matter for individual companies, acting in accordance with their constitution and the law (including any relevant forestry regulations). If they are in receipt of grant-aid, they must abide by the grant scheme requirements.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what public benefits it considers are delivered by Forestry Commission Scotland.

Michael Russell: Forestry Commission Scotland delivers a very wide range of public benefits in the social, environmental, and economic areas, both through its management of the national forest estate, and through its regulatory, grant-aid, and advisory function for private woodlands.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it quantifies the public benefits delivered by Forestry Commission Scotland.

Michael Russell: Forestry Commission Scotland’s Corporate Plan 2008-11 sets out the key actions being taken against each of the themes in the Scottish Forestry Strategy. In addition, the commission has a range of evaluation studies in place (e.g. Forestry and People) to measure progress.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has powers to direct Forestry Commission Scotland.

Michael Russell: Yes.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has powers to direct private forestry owners or interests in Scotland.

Michael Russell: Through Forestry Commission Scotland’s regulatory, grant-aid and advisory functions, Scottish ministers can influence the nature of private sector forestry.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that it is able to anticipate all environmental and other events that may have implications for the management of Scotland’s forests for periods of up to 75 years.

Michael Russell: It is almost inevitable that there will be environmental, social and economic changes over the next few decades which may impact on Scotland’s forests. We have a range of monitoring and forecasting mechanisms in place to help the forestry sector adapt where necessary.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can require private contractors to employ forestry staff transferred to them under transfer of undertakings (protection of employment) (TUPE) regulations for any specified periods into the future beyond those that TUPE may guarantee.

Michael Russell: Staff transferred to a private contractor under TUPE have protection for an unspecified period as there is no time scale within the regulations beyond which the protections provided under TUPE no longer apply.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can require private forestry interests to employ harvesting staff directly for forest management purposes where such private forest interests do not currently employ such staff.

Michael Russell: No.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the cost implications for the remaining Forestry Commission estate of the lease and transfer of felling rights to private interests and whether it will publish any such assessment.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of any reduction of Forestry Commission Scotland harvesting fleets on the viability of the mechanical engineering service and its potential earnings and contribution to the internal business financing of the commission.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on the costs of Forestry Commission Scotland of the leasing of up to 25% of the existing commercial national forest estate.

Michael Russell: Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on Climate Change and the National Forest Estate http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM . The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.

  The consultation exercise and options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland’s deliberations on this issue.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of leasing a proportion of the national forest estate on the training of apprentices in forestry and whether it will publish any such assessment.

Michael Russell: Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on Climate Change and the National Forest Estate http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM . The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses, including any responses relating to the training of apprentices in forestry, will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.

  The options review will be published after we have had the opportunity to consider it.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any cross subsidy within Forestry Commission Scotland from commercial income to delivering environmental benefits.

Michael Russell: Forestry Commission Scotland’s net budget is approved annually by the Scottish Parliament. Amongst other activities this budget includes commercial income and expenditure on environmental operations.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any assessment has been made of the impact on any cross subsidy within Forestry Commission Scotland from its commercial income to delivering greater environmental benefits if 25% of the commercial national forest estate were to be leased to private interests and whether it will publish any such assessment.

Michael Russell: The consultation exercise and options review will help determine Forestry Commission Scotland’s deliberations on this issue.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of leasing parts of the national forest estate on the restoration of native woodlands and whether it will publish any such assessment.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the implications of leasing significant parts of the national forest estate on the community right to buy under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 and whether it will publish any such assessment.

Michael Russell: Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on Climate Change and the National Forest Estate http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM . The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.

  The consultation exercise and options review will help determine Forestry Commission Scotland’s deliberations on this issue. The options review will be published after we have had the opportunity to consider it.

Forestry

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with US company the Timberland Fund and when.

Michael Russell: The term "Timberland Fund" is a generic term used to describe investment funds specialising in forests, but the Scottish Government is not aware of a US company called Timberland Fund.

Forestry

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive to whom it plans to lease 25% of the publicly-owned forest estate to if it does not plan to lease it to private foreign timberland investment companies.

Michael Russell: Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on Climate Change and the National Forest Estate http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM . The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.

  The consultation exercise and options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland’s deliberations on the detail of lease arrangements, should the leasing option be taken forward.

Forestry

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been approached by or has had discussions with private foreign timberland investment companies wishing to buy or lease the most commercially-viable forested land.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Government has not held any discussions with private foreign timberland investment companies regarding buying or leasing parts of the nation forest estate arising from the present consultation on the climate change bill.

Forestry

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote community woodlands.

Michael Russell: Forestry Commission Scotland will continue to encourage the engagement of communities in forestry. The commission achieves this through its partnerships with local groups on the national forest estate, by providing specific SRDP funding to help private owners and community groups to get involved in the management and enjoyment of woods, and through the funding of the Community Woodland Association.

Further and Higher Education

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it provides funding for sectarianism-awareness projects or campaigns in further and higher educational establishments.

Fiona Hyslop: The funding of Scotland’s further and higher educational establishments is the responsibility of the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council. It is for colleges and universities themselves to determine the learning activity which is offered to students and potential students and which best meets the needs of local communities and businesses.

Genetically Modified Crops

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether other seed lots from the same sources and countries of origin as the GM-contaminated oilseed rape seeds found in National List and variety trials in Scotland, as made public in September 2008, have been tested for GM presence and with what results.

The Executive has supplied the following corrected answer:

Michael Russell: Yes, nine additional seed lots of winter oilseed rape entered into commercial trials by the importing company have been tested for GM presence. Five of these were found to be contaminated with genetically modified herbicide-tolerant oilseed rape and the trial plots were destroyed by the application of a contact herbicide. In addition, two varieties of spring oilseed rape and varieties of mustard were also submitted into National List trials by the same company and have been tested but none, were found to be contaminated.

Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Chief Scientist Office funded study into ethnic variation in health, health service utilisation and health outcomes in Scotland will be completed.

Shona Robison: This study is expected to be completed by 31 January 2010.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that any case where Clostridium difficile is a direct or contributory factor is linked to the hospital, ward and bed in which the patient was present, for the purposes of future infection control.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards must ensure that local surveillance mechanisms are in place to identify any potential areas for improvement in infection control practice, and this includes surveillance to link cases of Clostridium difficile to specific hospitals, wards and beds. Whenever a patient is transferred to another area or discharged, the bed and clinical area they occupied undergoes a thorough terminal clean. If the patient was C. diff positive then this would additionally include the use of chlorine based cleaning agents, which are a proven method of killing C. diff spores, to ensure the bed is completely decontaminated and prepared for the next patient to occupy.

  The Scottish Government is also making available £2 million to NHS boards in the current financial year to support the further development of robust local surveillance systems, and NHS board practice in this area is the subject of review by the HAI National Taskforce, chaired by the Chief Nursing Officer.

Homecoming Scotland

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends the Homecoming Scotland 2009 advertisement for television and cinema to be broadcast outside Scotland and, if so, in what countries.

Jim Mather: The primary purpose of the advert is to engage the public in Scotland, encouraging them to invite friends and family home and to take part in events themselves. By encouraging them to participate actively in Homecoming, the intention is to help boost domestic tourism. It is also important that people in Scotland are fully engaged with the initiative so that they can provide a true Scottish welcome for those who come home in 2009.

  For this reason, the advert is not being played on television or in cinemas beyond Scotland at this stage. However, the advert is being promoted internationally through websites. A link to the advert has been included in VisitScotland’s dedicated Diaspora e-newsletters which are circulated to 2,500 diaspora organisations across the world. In addition, over one million people in over ten countries will have the opportunity to see the advert through VisitScotland’s international e-communications programme and via visits to VisitScotland’s many international websites where the advert is hosted. We are actively considering other opportunities for increasing exposure to the advert, both at home and outside of Scotland.

Homecoming Scotland

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it cost to produce the Homecoming Scotland 2009 advertisement for television and cinema, broken down by funding source.

Jim Mather: The Homecoming advert cost just over £150,000 to produce. VisitScotland receives European Regional Development Fund funding to support its Homecoming Scotland 2009 marketing activity, and this source was used to cover some of the cost of the advert, with the remainder coming from VisitScotland’s own marketing resources.

Housing (Scotland) Act 2001

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how often sections (a) 17 and (b) 18 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 have been used to date, broken down by local authority.

Stewart Maxwell: Sections 17 and 18 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 deal with the abandonment and ensuing repossession of properties under the Scottish secure tenancy. The information is not held centrally for local authority landlords; however, information on the number of abandonments following the start of evictions proceedings by local authorities is collected and is set out in the following table.

  Eviction Actions Against Council Tenants: April 2002 to March 2008

  Number of Cases Resulting in a Termination of the Tenancy through Abandonment or Eviction

  

 
Abandonment
Eviction


Scotland
6,867
6,275


Aberdeen City
1,159
103


Aberdeenshire
40
254


Angus
0
71


Argyll and Bute
0
59


Clackmannanshire
33
36


Dumfries and Galloway
25
39


Dundee City
595
336


East Ayrshire
123
592


East Dunbartonshire
45
92


East Lothian
7
76


East Renfrewshire
13
51


Edinburgh, City of
1,552
170


Eilean Siar
2
4


Falkirk
261
480


Fife
133
470


Glasgow City
225
133


Highland
65
163


Inverclyde
13
42


Midlothian
4
122


Moray
6
59


North Ayrshire
44
297


North Lanarkshire
1,990
817


Orkney
0
4


Perth and Kinross
22
90


Renfrewshire
31
703


Scottish Borders
18
13


Shetland
4
8


South Ayrshire
217
197


South Lanarkshire
47
359


Stirling
82
110


West Dunbartonshire
57
39


West Lothian
54
286



  Source: Evictions returns by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Communities Analytical Services (Housing Statistics).

  Notes:

  1. Figures may include estimates based on previous data due to outstanding returns.

  2. Following housing stock transfers, figures for Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow and Scottish Borders are not included from 2003-04, Eilean Siar, Argyll and Bute and Inverclyde from 2007-08.

  I have asked Karen Watt, Chief Executive of the Scottish Housing Regulator, to provide information in respect of registered social landlords and this is provided in the following table.

  Abandonments and Evictions in Registered Social Landlord tenancies, from 2004-05 to 2007-08*, by Local Authority Area

  

 
Total Abandonments
Total Evictions1


Scotland
10,616
4,802


Aberdeen City
85
118


Aberdeenshire
53
74


Angus
70
48


Argyll and Bute
81
52


Clackmannanshire
87
64


Dumfries and Galloway
414
235


Dundee City
299
186


East Ayrshire
177
49


East Dunbartonshire
68
39


East Lothian
14
26


East Renfrewshire
44
28


Edinburgh, City of
467
365


Eilean Siar
17
7


Falkirk
135
90


Fife
268
170


Glasgow City
6,178
2,213


Highland
85
69


Inverclyde
43
45


Midlothian
37
25


Moray
11
24


North Ayrshire
97
75


North Lanarkshire
288
89


Orkney 
4
4


Perth and Kinross
70
33


Renfrewshire
478
186


Scottish Borders
392
193


Shetland 
2
3


South Ayrshire
12
9


South Lanarkshire
156
70


Stirling
16
18


West Dunbartonshire
244
87


West Lothian
224
108



  Source: Scottish Housing Regulator Annual Performance and Statistical Returns (APSR).

  Notes:

  *This information was not collected prior to 2004-05.

  1. Total evictions: number of eviction proceedings resulting in either abandonment or recovery of vacant possession. Abandonments during eviction proceedings are thus included in both columns of this table.

Justice

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on what grounds Annan District Court is considered to be unsuitable for summary criminal court business, as stated in the Scottish Court Service’s consultation document Delivering a Unified Courts Administration in the Sheriffdom of South Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway .

Kenny MacAskill: The accommodation provided in the current Annan District Court building lacks the facilities necessary to provide:

  security of prisoners in custody;

  segregation of Crown and defence witnesses, and

  the wider security requirements for the judiciary, court personnel and court users.

Justice

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the figure of £0.8 million quoted in the Scottish Court Service’s consultation document Delivering a Unified Courts Administration in the Sheriffdom of South Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway as the cost for alternative accommodation for the continued provision of a court service in Annan was calculated.

Kenny MacAskill: The figure of £0.8 million was arrived at on the basis of current market construction costs for a 400m 2 building.

Lifelong Learning

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what provision there is in the single outcome agreement for the delivery of community education facilities in Edinburgh.

Fiona Hyslop: The City of Edinburgh Single Outcome Agreement commits the City Council and its partners to a series of important local outcomes related to their policy priorities which include:

  The protection of children and vulnerable adults and early intervention with vulnerable families.

  Supporting educational excellence at all levels.

  Tackling deprivation, inequality and disadvantage in the community across a number of programmes including the Fairer Scotland Fund, helping long-term unemployed back to work and closing the attainment gap.

  Working with the community and voluntary sector, supporting vulnerable people and increasing service quality in neighbourhoods.

  I would expect provision of community learning and development (as community education is now described) by the council and its partners to contribute significantly to delivering on these priorities. A number of important specific contributions are detailed in the single outcome agreement (please refer to information provided below). Equally it is important to note that COSLA and the Scottish Government have agreed that Single Outcome Agreements are intended to be high-level strategic documents setting long-term outcomes for local priorities. Much of the contribution that community learning and development will make to the priorities should therefore be detailed in supporting plans and strategies for the city and for specific areas. You should of course be able to access these through Edinburgh’s Community Planning Partnership.

  The City of Edinburgh single outcome agreement is available to the general public on the Improvement Service Website using the following link:

  http://www.improvementservice.org.uk/component/option,com_docman /Itemid,43/task,cat_view/gid,561/dir,DESC/order,date/limit,5/limitstart,10/

  The following information summarises what the single outcome agreement says about the provision of community learning and development in the City of Edinburgh.

  Within the Single Outcome Agreement, Community Learning and Development (CLD) is reported to contribute to the following national outcomes:

  National Outcome 4 - Our young people are successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens.

  Work is underway by CLD staff in partnership with youth agency colleagues to set up Local Youth Forums in each community planning partnership area. There is activity surrounding the Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme as equipping young people with a range of relevant life skills. Relevant indicator used to measure progress in the single outcome agreement is the number of young people achieving the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Required action by local partners includes: commitment to develop more qualitative measures using local forums; make arrangements to obtain young people’s views, and develop measures to assess the extent to which they are achieving the outcome in relation to confident individuals.

  National Outcome 5 - Our children have the best start in life and are ready to succeed.

  Required action by local partners commits to delivering the Early Learning and Literacy programmes along with NHS Lothian and the Council’s Services for Communities. There is also commitment to deliver the Live Literature programme, supporting greater access to reading for customers; as well as commitment to improve support for young children and their families so that children are ready to succeed.

  National Outcome 7 - We have tackled the significant inequalities in Scottish society.

  Edinburgh’s SOA acknowledges significant literacy and numeracy needs. CLAN Edinburgh works with literacies learners, creating individual learning plans and personal targets. The local outcome is to improve adult literacy and numeracy. Local indicators include: an increase in the number of new City Literacy and Numeracy (CLAN) learners; an increase in the percentage of CLAN leavers achieving all or part of their agreed personal learning plan goals.

Mental Health

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to implement cognitive psychotherapy in the NHS.

Shona Robison: We are working closely with NHS Education for Scotland and NHS boards to develop a range of initiatives to support the development around our commitment to increase access to and availability of evidence-based psychological therapies, including cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), in a range of settings and through a range of providers. This includes increased access to appropriate training for staff and in 2007-08 we provided funding for an additional 50 CBT training places and 26 new CBT supervisors.

  We are also investing £3 million in two pilot projects for new, innovative approaches to delivering CBT to help those specifically with anxiety and depression.

Ministerial Code

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice was given to ministers regarding their attendance at or participation in a meeting held at the SNP party conference with representatives from Aviemore resort hotels.

Michael Russell: Guidance for ministers regarding their engagement with planning matters is set out at section 8 of the Scottish Ministerial Code. The code, which is available on the Scottish Government website, can be accessed through the following link:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/06/18120242/0.

Parliamentary Questions

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to question S3W-16851, which received a holding reply on 4 November 2008.

Jim Mather: I refer the member to the question S3W-16851 on 18 December 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Parliamentary Questions

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to question S3W-16850, which received a holding reply on 4 November 2008.

Jim Mather: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16850 on 18 December 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Planning

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-10965 by Michael Russell on 11 April 2008, whether the correspondence and enclosures from Mr Macdonald that "were not shown to the First Minister" were forwarded to or drawn to the attention of any special advisor, government official or other ministers and, if so, to whom.

Michael Russell: The correspondence and enclosures were not forwarded to or drawn to the attention of any special advisor, government official or other ministers.

  The only officials to see the correspondence were the assistant private secretary with responsibility for ministerial correspondence within the First Minister’s office and the correspondence clerk within the First Minister’s office.

Planning

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-9480 by Michael Russell on 28 February 2008, which special advisers telephoned the communications officer for Mr Macdonald’s company on 9 January, 23 January and 7 February; whether a record was kept of these telephone conversations, and what was determined during these calls.

Michael Russell: There is no record of which special advisers spoke to the Communications Officer for Mr MacDonald’s company.

Poverty

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18386 by Stewart Maxwell on 9 December 2008, whether during its discussions with COSLA it will propose that the £7.5 million to support the poverty framework is targeted at delivering services in the 5% most deprived areas, as identified by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Stewart Maxwell: Our approach to tackling poverty, as set out in Achieving Our Potential, is people, rather than area, based. While we remain open to the views of stakeholders, including COSLA, on how best to focus our investment to achieve maximum impact, it is unlikely that will involve targeting based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, at the 5% or another level.

Public Bodies

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that income to it and its agencies and commissions from any source should be hypothecated to a specific purpose for any specific period of between two and 75 years.

Michael Russell: This depends upon circumstances and would be subject to decisions by the Parliament on a case-by-case basis.

Rail Network

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would cost to double track the railway line between Aberdeen and Inverness.

Stewart Stevenson: We do not hold this information. The transport intervention included in the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) announced on 10 December 2008 would provide a new station at Dalcross and new loops and dual tracking of short sections of the Aberdeen to Inverness line. The total estimated cost of this intervention is between £250 to £500 million.

Renewable Energy

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its news release issued on 9 September 2008 on renewable energy targets, which highlighted "a total private investment of over £800 million in green energy schemes over the last few weeks", whether it will list the projects in question, also showing the value of each and the date on which the relevant investment decision was made.

Jim Mather: The projects named in the news release, and the associated levels of investment, where this is already in the public domain, are as follows:

  Clyde wind farm, £600 million;

  Biomass plant at the Tullis Russell paper mill in Markinch, commercial in confidence, and

  Extension to Crystal Rig wind farm, £22 million.

  The statement highlighted some of the many renewable energy projects which reached various stages in their development over the course of the summer, demonstrating the high-level of activity underway across the sector in Scotland.

  The dates on which the relevant investment decisions were made are a matter for the private companies concerned.

Renewable Energy

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the First Minister’s statement on 24 September 2008 that "£1 billion of new private sector investment in the renewable energy sector" had "been made in the past two months alone" ( Official Report , c.11088), whether it will list the projects in question, also showing the value of each and the date on which the relevant investment decision was made.

Jim Mather: The projects in question, and the associated levels of investment, where this is already in the public domain, are as follows;

  Clyde wind farm, £600 million;

  Biomass plant at the Tullis Russell paper mill in Markinch, commercial in confidence;

  Extension to Crystal Rig wind farm, £22 million;

  Glendoe Hydro scheme, over £140 million.

  The statement highlighted some of the many renewable energy projects which reached various stages in their development over the course of the summer, demonstrating the high level of activity underway across the sector in Scotland.

  The dates on which the relevant investment decisions were made are a matter for the private companies concerned.

Scottish Government

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which daily and weekly newspapers and magazines are purchased regularly for ministers.

John Swinney: The following daily and weekly newspapers and magazines are purchased regularly by ministers:

  

Daily Record
The Big Issue


Daily Telegraph
The Spectator


Edinburgh Evening News
The Sunday Times 


Evening Times
The Courier 


Farmers Weekly
The Guardian


Financial Times
The Herald 


Fishing News
The Independent 


Health Service Journal
The Mirror


News of the World
The Scotsman


Press and Journal
The Sun


Scottish Daily Express
The Times 


Scottish Daily Mail
Times Education Supplement Scotland 


Scottish Farmer
West Highland Free Press

Scottish Government Funding

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that funding for specific purposes should be ring-fenced over prolonged periods of years.

Michael Russell: This depends upon circumstances and would be subject to decisions by the Parliament on a case-by-case basis.

Sectarianism

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether applications for grants from the £150,000 awarded to Sense over Sectarianism for 2009-10 can be made by projects from all local authority areas.

Stewart Maxwell: Sense over Sectarianism funds projects within the Glasgow and travel-to-work area. This includes Glasgow City Council and a number of surrounding local authority areas.

Sectarianism

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed on a full-time basis with anti-sectarianism organisations, broken down by organisation.

Stewart Maxwell: Information on the number of staff employed by organisations which are involved in tackling sectarianism is not held centrally.

Sectarianism

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the report in The Herald on 10 December 2008, whether the award of £412,731 to Sense over Sectarianism includes money already awarded for 2008-09.

Stewart Maxwell: Sense over Sectarianism were provided with £42,000 between January and June 2008 to deliver a number of specifically identified community projects. The £412,731 funding award was made from the Race, Religion and Refugee Integration Funding Stream and, in common with all other projects funded by this funding stream, covers the period July 2008 to March 2011.

Sectarianism

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial support Sense over Sectarianism receives from its partner organisations.

Stewart Maxwell: This information is not held centrally.

Sex Offenders

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18456 by Kenny MacAskill on 10 December 2008, whether the proposed HM Prison Grampian will have a comparable role to that of HM Prison Peterhead in the housing of serious sex offenders.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  As intimated in the reply to question S3W-18456 the planned use for HM Prison Grampian will be as a community facing prison for North East Scotland.

  Therefore it will not fulfil the same role currently delivered by HM Prison Peterhead, which holds the majority of sex offenders serving custodial sentences in Scotland.

  The community facing role for HM Prison Grampian may require it to hold sex offenders from the region.

Sex Offenders

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18456 by Kenny MacAskill on 10 December 2008, whether the proposed HM Prison Grampian will have a comparable role to that of HM Prison Peterhead in the rehabilitation of sex offenders through the Sex Offender Treatment Programme.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  "As intimated in the reply to question S3W-18456 the planned use for HM Prison Grampian will be as a community facing prison for North East Scotland.

  Therefore it will not fulfil the same role currently delivered by HM Prison Peterhead, which holds the majority of sex offenders serving custodial sentences in Scotland and consequently delivers the majority of Sex Offenders Treatment Programmes (SOTP) provided by the Scottish Prison Service.

  As the community facing role for HM Prison Grampian may require it to hold sex offenders from the region SOTPs or other public protection arrangements may be delivered at the prison for that group of prisoners."

Transport

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support vital infrastructure projects in the far north.

Stewart Stevenson: The government’s infrastructure priorities for Scotland are set out in the proposed National Planning Framework which is before Parliament and the Strategic Transport Projects Review which I announced last week.